Sunday, August 10, 2008

bobbili the ancient place







The Bobbili fort is situated in this ancient town. It is associated with the historic battle between the Raja of Bobbili and Zamindar of Vizianagaram, who is aided by the French. The fierce war established this as a land of heroism, bravery and courage. The impressive Bobbili fort stands as a silent testimony to this hard fought battle, who saw the Raja of bobbili lay his life fighting rather than surrendering. The Venugopala Swamy temple here is quite famous as also the oldest in the district.
Located at 60 Kms away from Vizianagaram

the tiger of bobbili




The mere utterance of his name brings back memories of valour and Velama pride. Also known as "Gajabaludu" and "Simha Vikramudu", his slaying of Peda Viziarama Raju, the Raja of Vizianagaram, was the single most event of significance, which catapulted him not only in the annals of Bobbili History but also of India.
The suicide of his sister and the wiping out of his entire clan in the famous `Bobbili Yuddham' led him to avenge almost single-handedly their killing. Tandra Paparayudu is revered as a tiger, who upheld the glory of the Padmanayaka Velamas. A `chavadi', which bears his name, was erected in Bobbili town in 1900.
The founder of the Bobbili house, Pedda Rayudu, 15th in descent of the Rajas of Venkatagiri, was a Velama by caste. Pusapati Madhava Varma was the ancestor of the royal Vizianagaram family. The rivalry between the two families dates back to 1652. Sher Muhammad Khan, the Fouzdar of the Nawab of Chicacole granted the Rajam hunda to Pedda Rayudu in recognition of his services.
Rayudu's son Lingappa, who succeeded him, selected Bobbili as his headquarters, built a fort there, found the town and called it Pedda-puli (big tiger). The name became Pebbuli and Bebbuli and in course of time it became Bobbili. The son of Sher Khan was abducted by rebels and Lingappa saved him. He was granted 12 villages and the hereditary title `Ranga Rao' in recognition of his service.
Lingappa was succeeded by his adopted son Vengal Ranga Rao and the latter by Rangapati. His son Rayadappa succeded him and later his adopted son Gopalakrishna took over. During Gopalakrishna's rule in 1753, the Northern Circars were assigned to the French by the Nizam of Hyderabad and Bussy, the French General, agreed to lease Chicacole and Rajahmundry Circars to Pedda Viziarama Raju, the Raja of Vizianagaram. A rupture between Bussy and the Nizam led to the weakening of the former's authority. Viziarama Raju placed his troops at the disposal of Bussy and helped him in re-establishing his suzerainty.
Viziarama Raju persuaded Bussy to help him in defeating his arch rival, the Raja of Bobbili. On January 24, 1757, Bussy with his army and the army of Viziarama Raju in tow marched towards the Bobbili fort. The army of Gopalkrishna Ranga Rao was no match for the combined armies of Bussy and Viziarama Raju but he and his men put up a brave fight till the end.
Tandra Paparayudu was at Rajam at that time. The French General knew that it would be impossible to reach Bobbili via Rajam as Paparayudu was camping there and took a different route to reach the fort. Rani Mallamma Devi, wife of Ranga Rao and sister of Paparayudu, sent a message to him on coming to know of the enemy's advance towards the fort.
However, the enemy intercepted the courier and the message did not reach Paparayudu.
Meanwhile, Ranga Rao and his men after defending the fort for several hours realised that the enemy could not be contained for long. Ranga Rao did not want the women and children in the fort to be at the mercy of the enemy. He ordered them to be sacrificed. Rani Mallamma Devi committed suicide.
When the news reached him, Tandra Paparayudu rushed to the demolished fort and saw his sister and the entire family lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Seething with vengeance he took an oath to kill Viziarama Raju.
Viziarama Raju was camping in a tent, basking in the `glory' of the unequal war, which annihilated his enemy. Tandra Paparayudu along with Devulapalli Peddanna and Buddaraju Venkaiah managed to reach the tent in which Viziarama Raju was sleeping. Paparayudu gained entry through the rear of the tent, while the other two stood guard at the entrance.
He woke up Viziarama Raju shouting "Puli, Puli... Bobbili Puli" (tiger, tiger... Bobbili tiger). Viziarama Raju tried to divert his attention saying that Velama heroes should not belittle their clan as cowards gaining entry through the backdoor. "You have wiped out our entire clan through dubious means and have no right to get ethical treatment," replied Paparayudu and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest.
Hearing the commotion, the bodyguard of Viziarama Raju tried to enter the tent but was killed by Peddanna, who was guarding the entrance. The entire army was alerted and the Bobbili tiger Paparayudu and the other two killed themselves.
The statue of this tiger of Bobbili stands majestically on Beach Road.
B.M.G.

BOBBILI LION



Bobbili is a powerful place for so many eminent charcters like "THE GREAT THANDRAPAPARAYUDU" . This place is famous for a musical instrument VEENA.....all bobbili pulis are heartly invited into this community

BOBBILI TIGER



The mere utterance of his name brings back memories of valour and Velama pride. Also known as "Gajabaludu" and "Simha Vikramudu", his slaying of Peda Viziarama Raju, the Raja of Vizianagaram, was the single most event of significance, which catapulted him not only in the annals of Bobbili History but also of India. The suicide of his sister and the wiping out of his entire clan in the famous `Bobbili Yuddham' led him to avenge almost single-handedly their killing. Tandra Paparayudu is revered as a tiger, who upheld the glory of the koppala Velamas. A `chavadi', which bears his name, was erected in Bobbili town in 1900. The founder of the Bobbili house, Pedda Rayudu, 15th in descent of the Rajas of Venkatagiri, was a Velama by caste. Pusapati Madhava Varma was the ancestor of the royal Vizianagaram family. The rivalry between the two families dates back to 1652. Sher Muhammad Khan, the Fouzdar of the Nawab of Chicacole granted the Rajam hunda to Pedda Rayudu in recognition of his services.

veera bobbili



its for all veerabobbili guys


its for all veera bobbili guys

bobbili veena



Andhra Pradesh also has a tradition of veena making in a place called Bobbili in the present Vizianagaram district from where the instrument derived its name — Bobbili veena. Bobbili is a place of historical importance as it was once upon a time a princely State and was ruled by kings. The rajas of Bobbili were also patrons of the fine arts. They encouraged veena making and in those days, Bobbili produced great musicians and vainikas (veena players). The instrument is about 1.5 m long and is made, traditionally from jackfruit wood. It has a fairly large and round, pumpkin-shaped sound producing box called the kudam with a thick, wide finger-board, the end of which is carved into the head of a dragon-like mythological animal called Yali.There are around 30 families in a small village called Gollapalli (near Bobbili), dependent on making this musical instrument for their livelihood.